Ponticoccus lacteus sp. nov. of the family Rhodobacteraceae, isolated from surface seawater.

A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, non-motile, aerobic bacterium, strain JL351(T), was isolated from the surface seawater of the South China Sea. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain had a close relationship with members of the genera Ponticoccus , Antarctobacter and Sagittula , and the closest relative was Ponticoccus litoralis CL-GR66(T) (with 96.56% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity). The polar lipids of strain JL351(T) comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified aminolipids, three unidentified phospholipids and an unidentified glycolipid. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was Q-10. The major fatty acids were C(18 : 1)ω7c (60.9%), C(18 : 0) (13.7%), C(16 : 0) (9.4%), 11-methyl C(18 : 1)ω7c (4.5%), and C(12 : 1) 3-OH (4.4%). The DNA G+C content was 66.2 mol%. Based on phenotypic, phylogenetic and genotypic data, strain JL351(T) is considered to represent a novel species in the genus Ponticoccus , for which the name Ponticoccus lacteus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JL351(T) ( = CGMCC 1.12986(T) = JCM 30379(T)).